Mordred's Lullaby
by Way2kool4skool82
Summary: Arthur has a troubled past linked to Morgana who has been gone for nine years. When she returns everyone has a secret, even if they don't know it.
1. Chapter 1

He had the dream again.

The dream that kept him from sleeping most nights. He thought it had gone away, _it had gone away!_ Arthur thought to himself. _Once Guinevere and I…_ Once they had what? She was hardly his. A few kisses. Some mutual glances at each other… But they could never be.

Just like before… But for different reasons. But tonight, there was no Uther controlling his fate, no Merlin cautioning his every move, nothing but freedom. And Arthur would take that freedom the second he got it.

All Arthur knew was that he needed to get out. As fast as he possibly could. He couldn't be in that palace anymore. He couldn't be Prince Arthur for now.

As Arthur snuck out of the castle, he went to the only place that he could think of. Guinevere's house.

When the dreams came, he would go there. Guinevere could not erase the dreams, but she could block them for a few minutes, hours, days… Until they came again.

"Arthur?" Guinevere's voice already began to soothe his shaking hands.

"It's the dreams again… I was just hoping that-" But Arthur didn't have to say anymore. Guinevere had already begun pulling out the mattress that had not been removed from the house from the first time he was here.

Arthur wouldn't dare attempt to take advantage of Guinevere's generosity by asking for more than this. He'd made that mistake once. Again, with different reasons.

"One of these nights Arthur, you will have to tell me what in these dreams scares you so much."

"It's not fear!" Arthur said in a sharp voice. But when he saw Gwen's hurt expression, he lowed his tone and muttered. "It's regret."

It was all that Arthur would say about the dreams.

It was all he could.

* * *

_Laughter penetrated the darkness. Such sweet laughter that Arthur had never heard before. A small light grew as he heard his named called "Arthur! Come play with me!" And suddenly everything was light. The green of the meadow, the sun in his blonde hair, and her bright eyes. _

"_Morgana!" The small girl before him began to age. Her curls of black hair began to lengthen, her eyes became larger, her entire body matured until she was a woman of sixteen. The two stood for a drawn out moment. Inches apart until Morgana took a step toward Arthur. She stood so her face was right in front of his, her toes stretching so she was his height, and then she kissed him very lightly on the lips. So innocent. So sweet. So fleeting. _

_In the one moment that it took for Arthur to reopen his eyes, Morgana had vanished. _

"_Morgana! Where did you go? Where are you?" Arthur shouted as everything went black._

_

* * *

_

Morgana. Where did you go? Where are you?

Arthur's eyes opened in a flash as he sat up, greeted by the morning sun.

The sun!

He had to leave before it was discovered that he was missing! Arthur threw his cloak over his shoulders and ran from the house, toward the castle.

Arthur had barely reached his chambers before Merlin knocked on his doors. "Arthur!" Merlin cried.

"No need to shout Merlin, not everyone is as deaf as you." Merlin muttered something under his breath that sounded vaguely like "dollop-head," but Arthur didn't have the patience for this today. "What is it?"

"The king needs to see you." Merlin's eyes rolled over. "And now." Arthur nodded as he pushed past Merlin and walked toward the Great Hall where Uther would undoubtedly be planning some new military tactic, or some revenge plan. In truth, as much as Arthur loved his father, this was not good for the kingdom. Arthur had heard murmerings of planned uprisings against the king and if Uther had not been his father, he might have been one to support them.

Arthur pushed open the doors to the Great Hall expecting to be greeted by his father's shadowed face, lined with disappointment, but the sight he was greeted with had emerged right from his dreams.

"Morgana…"


	2. Chapter 2

"Hello Arthur."

_Hello Arthur? After nine years that is all that she can say?_ Thought Arthur.

"You were gone…" Arthur whispered.

Uther was not looking at his son, but instead glaring at Morgana. "Well aren't you going to say hello to your sister Arthur?" Uther muttered, the sharp edge to his voice was not lost on Arthur, even in his shattered state.

"She… is…. not… my sister!" Arthur spat. The word sister combined with Morgana made his stomach crawl. "She is not. She may be your ward, but no blood is shared between us!" Arthur couldn't bring himself to look at Morgana again. If possible, she was even more beautiful than she had been nine years ago.

"I can't be here right now." Arthur pushed past the guards at the door and nearly ran out of the palace.

"Arthur!" He could hear that voice calling for him again, only this time it was real. Not a dream. But Morgana, there, in the palace. "Arthur please stop!"

"Stop!" Arthur called out as he continued down the corridors. He could hear Morgana following him. Those footsteps were as familiar to Arthur as his own heartbeat. "You want me to stop? That's rich coming from you!"

"I understand that you're hurt!" Morgana called as Arthur reached his chambers.

"Hurt? You give yourself much, too much, credit. You were gone for _nine years_, Morgana! Why couldn't you have stayed that way?" Arthur stopped at his door. Hands on the handles but unable to walk away from her. Not like she had.

"I had things to settle here…" She had come to stand right next to him.

"Things to settle? And what would they be?"

"Please don't be like this, Arthur." Morgana put her hands over his own but Arthur shoved her away.

"Don't touch me!" Arthur kept his head down, stare at the floor. How easy it was to pick up old habits, he thought.

"Arthur…" Morgana's voice was pleading. "Just… talk to me. There are things you need to know."

"No." Arthur said with finality in his voice. "There _were_ things I needed to know. When I was sixteen, I needed to know why you left. When I was sixteen I needed to know what I had done. When I was sixteen I needed to know why I wasn't enough. Now, I just need you out of my sight." But Arthur didn't move from the door. He didn't go inside it, he just stood, waiting for Morgana to make the next move. As always.

"I didn't want to." Morgana simply said and slowly put her hand on Arthur's arm and slowly kissed his cheek.

Arthur's eyes closed at the contact. Memories flashed through his mind at the speed of light. And just like in the dreams, Arthur opened his eyes and Morgana was gone.

As Guinevere entered Arthur's chambers he nearly ran over to her and grabbed the servant girl and pulled her into a kiss. It was one of the rare kisses where their guards were both down, Guinevere wasn't thinking of her servant status, and Arthur wasn't thinking that he was a prince, but this kiss was dangerous, Arthur had other things on his mind, things concerning Morgana.

Arthur had been careful with Gwen, not to let his past with Morgana affect his present with Gwen, but he had been a fool to think it wouldn't. After a few moments, Gwen pulled back from the kiss and cupped Arthur's face in her hand.

"Arthur? What's happened?" With that Arthur pulled away from Guinevere and turned away from her.

"Nothing. There are matters I must attend to. Excuse me." And with that Arthur walked out of his chambers. Arthur felt his cheek burning from where Gwen touched him, the same cheek that Morgana had planted her kiss. Arthur needed to get out of the palace. He needed to get away from everything there. No Uther. No Gwen. No Morgana. Then the feeling that there was a hole in his chest would go away.

"He threw the first punch." Arthur slurred as Merlin helped him back to the castle. Arthur's hands were bloody from the punches and Merlin was nearly pulling him back to the castle.

"I'm sure he did Arthur. I'm sure that's also why he was beaten to a pulp and why you're face is relatively clear of any bruises."

"I didn't say it was a good punch." Arthur laughed. "What would I do without you Merlin?"

"Get arrested in pub brawls and have your father disinherit you. And you might die. Well-you would probably die."

"Oh, that's no fun."

"Somehow, I don't think you're thinking about fun."

"Nope. I'm not thinking about fun. I'm thinking about the giant hole of pain that my life has become. Nothing has changed between Guinevere and I. Morgana is back. And to top it all off, my manservant is my best friend… Life is peachy."

"When are you going to learn that everything could be so much worse? You could have my life, and a royal prat is my best friend." Merlin dropped Arthur's limp body into his chambers.

"You… I do not like." Arthur said as he drifted off to sleep.

"I'll take it from here, Merlin." Arthur heard as his vision came back into focus.

"No!" Arthur shouted as he sat up, his head spinning. "She can't be here…" Morgana's eyes met his for but a second but Arthur felt all of the air leave his lungs, and with that, Arthur's walls went up. "Merlin, please see Morgana out. Her services are not needed."

Merlin moved to grab Morgana's arm but she shook out of his grasp. "We must speak soon, Arthur. There are things you need to know." And with that, Morgana swept out of the room and Arthur flopped back onto the bed.

"Wow." Merlin exclaimed. "What could she have possibly done to you to make you act like this?"

"The past doesn't matter, Merlin. I need to know why she's here _now._ Can't you just do some," Arthur motioned his hands, "Some, bipity-boppity-boo, and tell me why she came back?" Merlin rolled his eyes at Arthur.

"You know, I really regret telling you about that. My workload just keeps increasing, finding out Morgana's secrets was never in the job description." Merlin laughed.

"It's just a simple, little thing, Merlin. Shouldn't be too difficult, even for a complete idiot like yourself."

"No, no, it is not a simple little thing. It's a small spell that could have many unforeseen consequences that would lead to countless lives being in danger, including my own, and ramifications that will follow me for years. But yes, that would be so much simpler than just _talking_ to Morgana… What an ass am I! Oh wait, that's you."

Arthur lowered his eyes and averted the gaze of his friend, "I can't talk to her." He mumbled.

"And why's that?"

"It's too complicated to explain… I can barely make sense of it myself."

"Well if that's the case, I have an idea. I can show you the moment again. If you really can't understand it."

"And that's less difficult than what I asked you to do?"

"Well, no. But I'm much more interested in this." Merlin smiled at Arthur, who couldn't help smiling back. Now, shut your eyes and think of the moment you want to go back to. Arthur did as instructed while Merlin muttered something in another language. And then he was falling…

Arthur woke to a field before him. It was familiar to him; he and Morgana would take walks there when they could barely stand the castle any longer.

"This is where you wanted to go?" Arthur heard Merlin ask as his friend appeared behind him.

"You're going to be here too?"

"What can I say? I'm curious!" Arthur would have remanded his servant about spying had it not been for sixteen year old Arthur and Morgana walking through the field.

Arthur was in awe, she was so lovely. He black hair was a perfect contrast to the bright meadow behind them and sixteen Arthur was staring at Morgana, the exact same way that present Arthur was: with pure adoration.

"I'll miss you when you go." The young Morgana said as they sat down at the base of a tree.

"You will?" No one could miss the hopeful tone in Arthur's voice as he said it.

"Of course I will. You're special Arthur." Arthur turned his head away from the girl as he was blushing but she gently put her hand on his cheek and guided his face to look at her. "Not as a prince, but as you. I've never known anyone like you in my life."

"I could say the same for you. I just can't walk away from you as easily as I can others."

"I've known you my entire life Arthur Pendragon, I know you'll be back. But I wish you didn't have to leave."

"The battle won't be that worrisome. I've been on plenty of battlefields before." The stubborn pride in his voice was not lost on Morgana.

"But they were only a few days, at most. You'll be gone for months now. I won't even know if you're coming home or not." A tear slid from the girl's eye and the young Arthur slowly lifted his hand to brush it away. Arthur kept his hand on Morgana's cheek for a long moment, his eyes not leaving hers and suddenly Arthur grabbed her for a kiss.

It was a frantic kiss, one filled with fear and anxiety, just waiting to be pushed away but Morgana did not. Arthur pulled back and looked at Morgana once more before leaning in for a much gentler kiss. Their lips barely touched as Morgana put both hands on Arthur's face.

"Please don't go." She whispered. "Don't leave." Morgana then pulled back from Arthur and pulled at the ties on his shirt.

"Morgana…?" Arthur wondered.

"No thoughts. No regrets. Just now. Don't leave me." And with that they began kissing again. Exploring each other as the world sunk away from them.

"Stop it now!" The older Arthur said to Merlin. "I can't be in this place anymore." And then the field began to disappear and there was only blackness.

"What happened after that?" Merlin asked Arthur quietly as they rose from the stupor.

"I left the castle the next day for a battle in Ireland. I came back four months later and was told that Morgana had left the kingdom and I was not permitted to visit her."

"That was the last time you saw her? In the field?"

"Yes, she would not come see me leave in the morning. She did not want me to leave. She said she had dreams, terrible dreams of my fate. But I left anyway. And she did, as well." Merlin simply stared at Arthur as he hid his face in his hands. "It's been nine years, Merlin. Why now?"


	3. Chapter 3

The castle was on alert. There was talk of the druids in the kingdom and Uther's wrath was such that Arthur had never seen him like this before.

"They are a peaceful people, why do you persist on this crazed hunt against them?" Arthur questioned as Uther released the council.

"I have my own reasons that are none of your concern, Arthur." Uther waved Arthur off as he was a mere servant.

"None of my concern? I am the future king of Camelot, what distresses the present leader directly affects me!" He sounded like a petulant child being ordered to his room but Arthur persisted.

"Your future as king is still in doubt. I have given that and I can take it away! Do not test me!" Uther turned his back on Arthur, signaling for him to leave the room and for once, Arthur was happy to oblige. But Uther was not the only one acting crazed in the castle, Morgana had looked visibly distraught since the news of the druids came about. Arthur would have asked after her but he still had not been able to speak with Morgana without a flash of rage and then a pang of pain. And speak of the devil herself…

Arthur watched as Morgana ran into the king's chambers as he was leaving. For two people who have barely said a word to each other since she returned, it was strange that she was so eager to speak with Uther.

Arthur's curiousity could not be deterred as he dismissed the guards from the door and pushed it just far enough that he could hear the hushed whispers between Uther and Morgana.

"You cannot let them come to the castle!" Morgana cried.

"I am doing everything in my power to ensure that they do not enter. Their prescence angers me just as it does you."

"Do not ever say that to me! You do not know the pain that a mother feels when her child is killed in front of her eyes! We both know that Mordred was simply a means to an ends for you but he was my son!"

Son? Arthur thought. Morgana had no children, and why would his father care about the child?

"Your loss was profound and I will take the utmost care in ensuring your safety."

"I don't care about my safety. I care about the person responsible for Mordred's death to be killed. And before they are killed, to lose everything that they love."

"When did you become such a dark spirit, Morgana?"

"About the time that you banished me from the kingdom for carrying Arthur's bastard child. The bastard prince of Camelot. Oh how his death must have been convienent for you. You disgust me." Morgana spat as she left the room.

Arthur could not move, _the bastard prince of Camelot, Arthur's child, Dead? _No. It could not be.

Arthur attempted to move out of the doorway but Morgana came out and ran right into him.

"Arthur?" Morgana asked, there were tears streaming down her face. Arthur moved his arm up to wipe the tears away but shirked back when he remembered what he had just heard. He couldn't speak, he just stared at Morgana, waiting for this to make sense.

"Arthur? What did you hear?" Arthur just shook his head and walked away as if he were in a trance.

"I need to speak with him." Morgana's voice echoed through Arthur's chambers as she stood in the doorway, arguing with Merlin.

"I'm sorry Morgana. He left without telling me where he was going or when he would be back."

"But Merlin, this is very important. He will do something rash if I can't find him."

"Have you met Arthur? He's always doing something rash." Merlin snickered despite the sense of foreboding he felt.

"This is something that he has never had to face before and he doesn't know the entire story. When he comes back, you will tell me, Merlin? Right?"

"Of course, my lady."

"And Merlin? He'll need you. He won't want me."

"Need me? I'm just his servant."

"I've known Arthur since he was a child, Merlin. I know a few things about the people he relies on. You're one of them." And with that Morgana walked away from Arthur's chambers.

Arthur didn't know where he was going. Only that someone needed to suffer. He placed a cloak around his shoulders. Placed a dagger beneath it. Pulled the hood over his face and walked out of the castle. He moved through the town, weaving between the people in the marketplace, until finally reaching Camelot's borders, where he found the Druids.

He watched them all interacting. There were a few children, some women, and an equal number of men. They were laughing. Laughing while his son was dead? _Responsible for his death_, that was what Morgana had said. What had they done to him? Had they done it quickly and quietly so no one would hear? Or had it been long and painful so that he could feel the agony of being a son of Camelot? They would die.

Arthur slowly walked toward the camp where they had set up. They were singing and dancing around a campfire, enjoyment and happiness radiated from them, _why would they kill my son_? Arthur continued thinking as he stood in the trees waiting for his chance to attack.

Arthur soon identified the leader as a young man with a short beard who stood a bit apart from the others, _he would die first._

As the man excused himself from the festivities, Arthur braced himself for a fight, grasping the dagger in his hand. The Druid walked directly in front of Arthur's hiding spot and Arthur sprung onto the man, putting a hand over his mouth to ensure that he would not be overheard.

Arthur pushed him onto the ground and held the knife up to the man's throat. "You killed my son." Arthur spat at the man as the Druid widened his eyes in recognition and began to shake his head.

"ARTHUR!" He heard a voice scream from behind him. "Arthur let him go now! You don't understand!"

"Morgana get away from here. You don't need to see this."

"And you don't have to do this!"

"I heard you!" Arthur cried, tears beginning to stream from his eyes. "I heard when you said that they killed our son!"

"Arthur you don't understand." Morgana said calmly and pried the dagger out of Arthur's hand.

"I'm so sorry, Morgaine." She said to the Druid.

"He wasn't meant to know about the boy." The Morgaine responded.

"He overheard a conversation and he has a right to know!"

"He will never allow it to happen! And it must!"

"I know!" Morgana screamed.

"What happened to my son?" Arthur whispered. His hands were shaking as he stared down at the knife that had fallen to the ground.

"Mother!" A small voice cried from behind Arthur. Morgana turned and smiled as a young boy ran into her arms.

"Mordred! I have missed you!" She cried as she knelt down to the boy.

"Mordred?" Arthur said. _That cannot be. _But as the boy turned around, Arthur could see it. Mordred's eyes, just like his. Such a deep blue. And his hair, the exact shade of Morgana's. There was no denying that this child was theirs.

"Mordred." Morgana said as she held the boy close to her chest. "You remember the stories that I told you about your father? The young prince who would went off to war?"

"The one with the corn-colored hair and my eyes?" Mordred questioned, looking fully at his mother.

"Yes, that one." Morgana turned Mordred to face Arthur, and recognition flooded in the boy's eyes. "Mordred, this is your father." She turned to look at Arthur, tears filling her eyes. "Arthur, meet your son."


	4. Chapter 4

"It's not possible…" Arthur sputtered. "He… you… you said he was dead."

"Uther has to believe that."

"Uther… He knows… He knows that he's mine." Arthur gestured to Mordred who had retreated to a place removed from their conversation.

"He's known since I first understood that I was pregnant."

"And yet, you didn't see fit to tell me? That I had a son? That he was supposedly dead? That he is actually alive?" Morgana turned away from Arthur, glancing at their child before settling on the ground of the forest.

"Why all of these lies, Morgana? It's been nine years! Nine years of deceit, so please, tell me the truth." Arthur had visibly calmed, kneeled down and tentatively took Morgana's hand in his own.

"I wanted to… You had left and… and three months later I realized that I was with child." Morgana squeezed Arthur's hand, holding on to ensure that he didn't slip away. "I went to Uther and told him that I was carrying a child. He demanded to know the father but I… I didn't want to tell him. He had a murderous look in his eyes; one that I had never seen before and it frightened me. But he soon realized… He ordered me to tell him if 'the bastard I was carrying' was yours." Arthur stared at Morgana, trying to register her story of his father with the vision he had been carrying since birth but they would not reconcile.

"I spat at him and told him that I was carrying the future of Camelot and then his eyes went deathly calm. He told me that he would dispatch a letter to you and demand you to come home to deal with the situation."

"I received no letter." Arthur muttered.

"I know. A few days later Uther entered my chambers and told me that you had been injured on the battlefield and that I must pack my belongings as quickly as possible and that we would leave to go tend to you at midnight. He dropped me off at one of the abandoned castles with a maid and twelve guards and told me that Mordred was a mistake and would never be recognized." Arthur dropped Morgana's hand and kicked a tree in anger. He wanted to break something. He wanted to scream. But he looked up and saw the boy, his son, Mordred, meeting Arthur's deep blue eyes with his own. Arthur feebly smiled at this child, his child, a stranger before turning to Morgana and resuming his seat next to her.

"I gave birth to Mordred and for years, we were content, until he turned seven… My maid came into my chambers where Mordred and I were celebrating and told me that she had overheard one of the guards saying that Mordred was never meant to live this long, and that under the king's orders, he wouldn't live any longer. I knew the palace wasn't safe for Mordred any more so I snuck him away from the grounds and gave him to my maid's brother, Morgaine. But I knew Uther wouldn't accept this so we arranged it to look as if Mordred had been poisoned by the Druids and then told Uther that he was dead."

"You gave our son away to the one group of people who hate this kingdom the most and wish to see it destroyed. What could have possessed you Morgana?" Arthur whispered but the accusation could be heard in his voice.

"I gave him to the people who weren't plotting to kill him simply because his parentage wasn't ideal! I have him to his people!"

"His people? What do you mean?"

"He's special, Arthur. More special than you or I…" Morgana's eyes followed her son as he danced around the fire with some of the other children.

"Are you telling me that he has magic?"

"Arthur, do not begin preaching about the evils of magic! I will not listen to you say that."

"I hardly share my father's prejudice against magic, Morgana, I would think that you of all people would understand that." Arthur wouldn't reveal what he knew about Merlin, but he wished to assure Morgana that he wasn't as prejudiced as his father.

"I'm sorry Arthur."

"It's fine."

"Not about that…" Morgana's eyes began to tear. "I'm sorry that I hid Mordred from you."

"My father wouldn't have permitted it…" Arthur didn't even know who he was making excuses for anymore.

"Yes, there's that, but a selfish part of me wanted to keep him. For myself. And only myself." Arthur wanted to brush away the tears that came from her eyes but he couldn't bring himself to comfort Morgana, not after what she had just told him. Who was he to believe? The person who had left nine years ago and came back with more secrets than he could count, or the father who he had known and loved since he was born, but who he knew was capable of this.

"And now you're back…"

"And now I'm back."

"Why?" Arthur asked. "Why now? Why with him? Just why?"

"I can't… I can't answer that Arthur."

"And I can't listen to this anymore… It's all too much… I just can't." Arthur stood up and began to retreat into the woods.

"Mother!" Arthur heard Mordred call. "Where is he going?"

"I don't know, Mordred." Morgana responded.

"Will he be back, mother?"

"I don't know that either, my son." And in that moment, Arthur didn't know either…


	5. Chapter 5

Arthur left the kingdom for a short time. He brought only Merlin, needing to remain away for as long as he could; away from Morgana and her tales of a son he did not know; away from the King and his lies hidden by truth; simply away. But Arthur knew he would have to return. He had been gone for four months, moving from tavern to tavern, concealing his identity from the public's eyes. Yet he soon heard the news of his kingdom: the staunch alliance between Uther and another kingdom had been broken by the news of the former king's death and a Druid nephew's rise to power, and a war was brewing. Arthur would have to return, for his people if nothing else.

The first place that Arthur visited upon his return was the home of Guinevere, regardless of his newfound son and his subsequent feelings for the boy's mother, he longed for the simple tranquility of his former love with Gwen. Arthur nearly laughed at himself at the idea of his relationship with Gwen being simple, must have had a strong affinity for forbidden loves. When Arthur entered her house, Gwen nearly knocked him over with an unanticipated shove as she began berating him for leaving without word.

"You could have died for all I knew!"

"I wouldn't leave this world so easily, love." Arthur could feel his spirits lift at simply sinking into old patterns: she would lecture him and he would smile at her words of wisdom.

"I simply ask for the truth, Arthur, and I feel that now you will no longer give it freely." Gwen sighed as her anger waned and she sunk to the floor.

"Could I decifer a truth, I would tell it. As it is, my head is so filled with falsehoods and truths that I cannot fathom any notion of reality." Arthur sat so he was eye level with Gwen and lifted her chin to show tears. "You must keep me sane, Guinevere, for if you cannot, I will surely lose any reality that remains."

Gwen tilted her head into his hand as he cupped her cheek and planted a soft kiss into his palm.

"Just stay safe, Arthur. If I can have one request, it would be that you remember yourself, and soon all truths will reveal themselves in time."

As Arthur made his way back to the castle he glanced towards the woods as if reverting back to the very moment when his already troubled life, became an even greater tangled mess.

Arthur found his father in the great hall, drinking a glass of wine as he overlooked maps, undoubtedly planning his next strategy. Arthur glanced around the room and he swore he could have seen a pair of deep blue eyes that had haunted him for months peering back at him but when he looked again, no one was there.

"Father," Arthur's voice shook as if he were still a child and his father rose his eyes to match Arthur's own.

"So you've deigned to return now that your kingdom is at war."

"I apologize, Father, I have no excuse for my cowardice."

"You do not." It was a statement of fact, not an accusation or even a regret.

"Father, I must ask, why was Morgana sent away so many years ago?"

"Arthur, haven't we more important matters to attend to than an old departure of your childhood fancy?"

"You… you knew, of my feelings for her?"

Uther gave a sound of disgust as he lifted the wine glass to his lips and drank. "Half of the kingdom knew of your fascination with the urchin."

"You made no mention…"

"I would not put word to an incestuous desire that would soon be stamped out with age."

"Or with prodding from yourself!" Arthur accused, what temper he had held back had just been released.

"I couldn't know what you mean, Arthur. Now cease with these riddles or I will have you removed from my presence."

"Then I will make my statements direct. Did you send Morgana away because she was carrying my son?" Uther gave a look of disbelief as he placed the glass down and rose from his seat.

"_Your_ son? Is that the lie that the girl is telling now?"

"You deny it?"

"I do not deny that I sent her from the castle because of a child, but it was not yours. The girl had countless lovers, from knights to the stable boys." Arthur stood in silence. He had known Morgana to be troublesome, always attending to the men and refusing to conform to the expectations required of her by status. Could it be true? Could this child not be his own?

"If he was not mine, why send them away?"

"Because of the scandal it would bring to the kingdom. She was my ward and closest to you of all of the men at court. What would the people think? Not that she had lowered herself and disgraced us all," Uther was becoming visibly angry as he seemingly recalled this experience, spitting as his next words came out "but that the child was one of ours! Perhaps people would call you as the father, yet I doubt it, you were gone so often into battle, no they would claim it to be mine, thus an heir."

"Morgana would never attest that you were the child's father!"

"Would she not have? Had it improved her position? That girl was not desired for marriage, no man would have her after hearing the stories of various lovers. She had no options, Arthur. A few more years and she would have been sent to a nunnery. But the damn child got with child, and we had to be protected." Uther grasped Arthur's head between his hands and pulled him close so that their foreheads were touching. "Our family."

Could Arthur believe Uther? He did not know. He knew the depths the man would go to protect the family but he had known Morgana for so long and could she really be so cruel?

Suddenly these thoughts flew from Arthur's head as he felt Uther's weight give out from under him and Uther's hands dropped from Arthur's face and he stumbled before Arthur caught him.

"Father!"

"The wine," Uther whispered. "Poison…"

_A pair of deep blue eyes that had haunted him for months_

"GUARDS!" Arthur called as he supported his father, "Call a physician, the King's been poisoned!"


End file.
